The Baron’s Men on stage at the Scottish Rite Theater last Thursday looked less like the average community theater troupe and more like time travelers.
Performing Shakespeare’s comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor, the players commanded the stage, emphasizing every line with exaggerated character movements and booming voices, while the crowd looked on, ready to laugh and cheer at any moment.
The Baron’s Men are Austin’s only Elizabethan Shakespeare company. That means the troupe performs Shakespeare according to standards of the late 16th century. There are handmade costumes and props and simple sets that fit the style of the time. They do, however, make a couple exceptions: women and electricity are allowed.
Jackie O’Keefe, a supporter of the troupe for three years, said what sets the Baron’s Men apart from other Shakespeare companies is their commitment to innovation.
“They are very refreshingly open and they feel original,” she said. “They feel like they are always inventing it as they go along.”
This run at the Scottish Rite marks 27 years for the Baron’s Men. It’s also the group’s first time performing in a venue that isn’t their longtime home, the Curtain Theatre. Last fall, the theater was closed and dismantled after a real estate developer bought the property it sits on.
“The Baron’s Men had become synonymous with the Curtain Theatre. So it's kind of an unknown for everybody,” said Michael Osborn, the director of Merry Wives and current president of the troupe’s board of directors.
Baron’s Men evolution
The inaugural Baron’s Men production was staged in 1999 when a few people from the Society for Creative Anachronism, a nationwide group dedicated to reenacting pre-17th century history, decided to perform Shakespeare.
“ A group of friends wanted to put on a show,” Osborn said, “and what they did was Henry the One-Fifth, a 20-minute version of Henry the V with four people.”
Not long after, Richard Garriott, a member of the society and successful video game developer, offered to build a period-accurate theater on his land overlooking Lake Austin.
“The Curtain Theatre was purposely built for the Baron’s Men. It was one of North America's only 'wooden O' Elizabethan replica outdoor theaters,” executive artistic director Lindsay Palinsky said. The original wooden O was the Globe Theatre, a rounded amphitheater in England where the Bard staged his plays.
Over time, the Baron’s Men evolved from a few friends performing for each other into a full-fledged theater company, putting on two shows a year. In 2015, they became a certified 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
“Every bit of money that comes in goes right back into the organization,” Osborn said. “We do actor workshops. We also do a lot of educational outreach where we go out to schools, run some scenes and do a little history lesson.”
The theater itself grew, too, with other organizations using the stage. But the Baron’s Men remained the main residents.
“ Other troupes have played there, but it's been our home, and we took tremendous pride in the care and upkeep of the Curtain,” Osborn said.
Then, halfway through their 20th season at the Curtain last year, the troupe received news about the property's sale.
“They were like, you could do one more show and then you gotta get out,” Osborn said.
The last show would be the Bard’s will-they-won’t-they couple’s comedy Much Ado About Nothing.
“It was one of our biggest shows," Osborn said. "It was a wonderful sendoff.”
The board and artistic directors began planning for the next chapter of the Baron’s Men. The big goal became building their dream theater.
“We want an outdoor theater and we want an indoor theater and our rehearsal space and locker rooms,” Palinsky said. “And, after hearing slamming porta-potty doors for 20 years, [we want] real bathrooms for the audience.”
Growing fan base
In the meantime, the team’s main focus is making sure there’s a plan to keep their annual two-show schedule going.
“We launched a relocation fund, a donate button on our website,” Palinsky said, “But we'll be putting more concerted efforts toward community partnerships. We need to look at sustainable fundraising to figure out how we can ramp up into our growth.”
The troupe had been building a base of dedicated patrons coming to see every show. One of those fans is 15-year-old Hudson Purma, who started coming to the Curtain three years ago with his family.
“I had been aware of Shakespeare,” he said, “but I never experienced it in a proper setting and in a proper way. [The way the Baron’s Men performed Shakespeare] just felt very real.”
Hudson and his dad run a film club, the Austin Flick Clique, that’s dedicated to exposing younger audiences to classic films. After hearing about the Curtain’s closure, Hudson reached out to see if there might be a way to use the club to raise money and awareness for the troupe.
“If they can't have a new theater and they can't keep doing what they do. It's not just a loss of art, it's a loss of community,” he said. “We want to help them.”
The Baron’s Men collaborated with the club for a three-film series called “To Screen or Not to Screen.” All proceeds will go to the players.
Onto the next stage
With Merry Wives, another play coming this fall and the Flick Clique series, the troupe has officially entered its second act.
“We’re committed and invested in the next 25 years of the Baron’s Men and beyond,” Palinsky said. “We are going to rebuild something amazing that will be unique to us and unique to Austin.”
While the Curtain may be gone, the Baron’s Men players and their community are here to stay.
